


Resurgence

by Egotisticalfloof



Series: Amnesia (In Memoria) [2]
Category: Jacksepticeye (RPF), Markiplier (RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Amnesia, Anxiety, M/M, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-12-15 08:44:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11802534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Egotisticalfloof/pseuds/Egotisticalfloof
Summary: Mark shot in self-defence.Anti waits with patience.Things don't always go according to plan.





	1. State of Emergency

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct followup to [An Act of Self-Defence](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11726073)
> 
> originally it was just going to be a oneshot, but I got really inspired with this followup plot and I had to write it! Hope you guys like it, it's only going to be short!

 

Life in a cabin in the middle of nowhere was difficult and cold, Anti decided. He was sitting with a cup of coffee in his hands, huddled up as best he could in front of a heater with two hoodies and a fluffy pair of socks on to fight against the chill. He hadn’t figured out the heating properly, and he didn’t want to mess around too much and reveal that someone had been living in the cabin. It looked pretty untouched since Jack had moved out of, used more for storage by the Mcloughlin family than anything else it seemed, but it served Anti’s purpose well. The family weren’t around, Anti hadn’t seen them since he had arrived, which was lucky for him and he didn’t really care where they were, just when they were coming back.

So, he sat, alone and bundled up in the cabin and waited.

It slowly became clear that going out there hadn’t been the best choice for his mentality. He was alone with his thoughts twenty-four seven and though he had never been the sanest person beforehand, Anti felt like he was going even crazier stuck in the wilderness as he was.

When he looked at his hands all he saw was red. Bloodstains that were caked under his nails, spreading the disgusting redness over his skin and it didn’t disappear even when he scrubbed and scrubbed until his hands were raw. Every little noise sounded like a gunshot and sent him scrambling to his feet, no matter what the actual origin of the sound was and Anti was constantly on edge because of it. His nerves were whittling down slowly and he didn’t know how much longer he could cope in isolation.

There was a choice for him to go back to a social situation. Jack had been trying to get in touch with him ever since the accident, texting and calling and leaving voice messages pleading with Anti to just tell him where he was. He had stopped reading them after the first day, and his phone was on silent and the vibration was turned off so the calls went completely unnoticed. In all honestly, the only reason he hadn’t thrown the phone out the window in anger was because he didn’t have a computer and the phone was his only connection to the outside world. Anti couldn’t exactly pop down to the closest shops for food, not in his state.

Even with the option there, Anti didn’t want to take it. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, even though isolation was driving him insane. Jack would only try to get him to come back to Brighton, to forgive Mark for what they would all call an accident, and then expect him to continue on as normal. But nothing was going to be normal again. Not anymore.

Not with him gone.

He didn’t even remember how it had gotten like this, how he had ended up with such strong feelings and such an attachment to someone else, but it was all Anti could cling to right now. Somewhere in the back of mind, Anti knew what he was experiencing was called grief, but he didn’t want to admit that to himself. It was a weakness, to be so attached to someone, and yet here he was, playing a waiting game.

If he went back, he’d end up stooping to Mark’s level. He’d get cornered into a situation that meant somebody else would have to die, and Anti didn’t want that. It wouldn’t be worth it. In this game, he needed to be alone with his thoughts no matter how high up the wall it drove him. These anxieties were his own, and he had to face them.

There were voices sometimes. Anti wasn’t sure if he was muttering to himself or just subconsciously thinking things that echoed around his mind.

_How do you know this is going to work?_

_Mark doesn’t want him to exist anymore, he’s scared of him._

_He isn’t going to come back, you’re wasting your time here._

When the voices came, Anti would break things. Or he’d hurt himself, it all depended on what he was thinking. He’d try and pick things that wouldn’t be missed if he was in a breaking mood, since he did have the thought of keeping his presence lowkey ever circling his mind. When it came to his own body, he was not as careful. Picking at the cut on his neck was a favourite thing to do, making it worse, exposing it to the air in some insane hope it would turn septic. He’d cut his hands and fingers by trailing them over course bits of wood or over sharp objects around the cabin. Sometimes he didn’t know what he’d done when he regained control, his own blood staining his hands.

It was all to stop the strange numbness that had seeped into his very bones. Even when his emotions flew all over the place, Anti could still sense the numbness through it all. The cuts would turn to scabs and fade with time, but the feeling never left.

_He’s not coming back._

_You’re going to be alone._

_Forever._

_Mark took him from you._

_He needs to be punished._

_You need to take revenge._

Anti’s thoughts turned to revenge when he came back to himself. When he was cleaning himself – or whatever he had broken – up, he would plan revenge. It helped ground him after losing himself to a panicked, anxious and angry state. Planning how much he was going to do to Mark Fischbach when he finally got hold of him, how much pain and suffering and torture that was coming his way, it soothed Anti’s soul. Dark had suffered in the end, so it was only fair the one who had fired the shot that killed him would suffer too. And Anti, he was going to enjoy every second of it.

As his presence in the cabin drew longer, time became something Anti couldn’t keep track of, even when he tried. The days blurred together and he slept at random intervals whether it was day or not and it made it even harder to piece together what day it was. Anti ordered anything he needed to come straight to the cabin so he didn’t have to leave, and he spent most of his time with the windows blocked so daylight never seeped in. Sometimes he didn’t even know if he’d been there longer than a day. Other times he was unsure of when he had last eaten or slept, or how long he had actually been inside that cabin.

But he needed to wait somewhere secluded.

No matter the cost.

When it happened, Anti later estimated he had only been in the cabin for two weeks after the incident. It felt like an eternity to him, but in reality, he had always known it wouldn’t be too long.

He couldn’t explain how he knew. Something in his gut told him that he needed to check the makeshift space he had made into a bedroom. The bed from when Jack had lived there was still in the cabin, and Anti had hung a sheet up so there was some semblance of separation between the living area and the bedroom of the cabin, much like Jack himself had done. And now, every fibre of his being was telling him to check behind the curtain.

Pulling the sheet aside, Anti’s breath caught in his throat at the figure lying on the bed. Grey skin, dark hair, red eyes hidden behind fluttering eyelids and a chest that was slowly rising and falling with deep breaths indicating either sleep or unconsciousness…it was him, in the flesh. Anti released the breath he was holding and walked carefully over to the bed, his hands trembling, body glitching as he tried to keep a cap on the sudden flow of emotions that filled him at the sight.

Dark was here. He was here and he was breathing and there was a part of Anti’s mind that giggled because he was naked, but he shut that part down. There was a new scar on his chest from where Mark had shot him. It was healed but still looked raw since it was brand new, and Anti wasn’t sure how he felt about it just sitting there, ruining Dark’s otherwise perfect expanse of skin.

The numbness began to fade, excitement and anticipation taking its place. Anti let himself smile.

This torment would soon be over.

He had made himself another cup of coffee before Dark finally showed signs of waking up. Anti was sitting by the bed, idly sipping at his drink while Dark stirred under the duvet the green haired glitch had tossed on him. Slowly, ever so slowly, his red eyes blinked open. They were unfocused at first, and Dark himself seemed a bit slow to react to being awake, but Anti understood. To Dark, it must have been like waking from a very long bought of sleep, and that could really mess up the brain.

Setting the mug down, Anti cleared his throat, bringing Dark’s attention to him. The ego sat up and stretched, his aura making his body appear more layered than it should have been.

Anti frowned.

Something didn’t feel right. It seemed like Dark didn’t have perfect control over his aura, and it was dancing around him as it pleased, flashes of blue and red illuminating the dark room. It could be put down to the fact that Dark had only just woken up after the death of his last body, but there was a building anxiety in Anti’s gut that told him it was something else.

He narrowed his eyes and scrutinised the other ego.

Dark finally seemed focused, his red eyes sharp again. He reached up and pushed his hair out of his face, an action Anti had seen him do many times before. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary there.

“Dark.” Anti said, drawing Dark’s attention again. “Are you okay?”

Their eyes met. Anti had to supress a grin that it had actually worked. That the waiting and the near mental-breakdown he had suffered was worth it. But then, Dark opened his mouth, and Anti’s world came crashing back down.

“Who are you?”


	2. Blank Slate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark is back, but something is wrong and Anti wishes life would be simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so overwhelmed by the love for this story! I'm so glad you guys are liking it! <3
> 
> I had two ideas for how I wanted this chapter to go, and I decided to go for the more complicated of the two. I really want to explore in this fic how Mark influences and effects the egos as much as the fans do and what that means for the egos in question, so that's the basis for Dark's character in this fic!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the way this story goes ^^

 

 

It wasn’t the first time in the last couple of weeks that Anti had forgotten how to breath, but the question definitely prompted the most painful occurrence. His lungs completely seized as it sank in, Dark’s blank expression not helping as his red eyes bored into Anti’s. Their colour was dulled from their normally bright and calculating gaze, and Anti could see nothing behind them, no confusion or concern since he clearly didn’t know who Anti was. Even as he felt his heart do some strange and painful movements inside his chest, his panic was overwhelmed by his own confusion and concern.

Something was wrong.

Dark’s aura had been swirling around him only moments before, but as soon as the ego had moved and sat up, the aura disappeared completely, leaving him with a body that looked too human for who Dark was. No shell, no layered effect, no uncomfortable ringing sound, there was nothing left of the aura that made Dark seem so threatening and so powerful.

And it wasn’t the only thing, Anti realised as his breaths came in shorts bursts. There was no emotional output from Dark at all. His entire posture was relaxed as he watched Anti, and there was no anger that the glitch hadn’t answered his question, or interest in what had happened to him or where he was. It was as if Dark was just a blank shell of an ego sitting there waiting for Anti to speak, unconcerned with what was going on.

The numb feeling that Dark’s appearance had chased away began to slowly creep back into his bones, and Anti had to fight the urge to punch something. What was going on? His lungs burned from the effort of Anti forcing himself to breath properly and focus on the now. He needed to keep his head, with the situation so grave and so strange, and focus on what he knew.

Dark had no idea who he was.

And in turn, Anti had no idea who the person sat in front of him was.

The only thing he did know was this wasn’t the Dark he knew. Whatever figment had appeared in the cabin wore Dark’s appearance; his sweeping hair, red eyes, grey skin and even a scar on his stomach from the bullet wound but there was nothing else that even remotely confirmed he was truly Dark.

His silence spoke volumes. Anti knew if Dark had been himself he would have been demanding an answer, even if the amnesia had remained. He wouldn’t just sit there and wait for Anti to put the pieces together before introducing himself.

All the anxieties that had fled began to race through Anti’s head again, the force making his vision slightly blurry.

_What’s going on?_

_Why isn’t he talking?_

_This isn’t Dark. You failed._

_What have you done?_

_What has Mark done?_

The thought of Mark broke the cycle and made Anti growl, the cabin slowly coming back into view again. Dark’s head jerked in reaction to the sound and his eyes met Anti’s again. There were still no emotions, no fear or curiosity about the sound and what thought had caused it, the ego had merely been reacting to the break in silence.

As much as he knew he needed to keep control, Anti wanted to be sick. He wanted to scream and shake Dark until something clicked inside him and he came back to himself, but the glitch knew that wouldn’t help. Still, the impulse made his hands shake. He couldn’t concentrate with Dark’s emotionless gaze on him.

So, he decided to talk. He needed to probe and see if Dark remembered anything at all, if this was potentially just a side-effect of regenerating after Mark had killed him.

Taking a calming breath, Anti snapped his fingers and got Dark’s attention immediately.

“My name is Anti.” He said.

Dark blinked and nodded, no recognition in his eyes at all. “Anti.” He repeated, causing Anti himself to hold back a grimace. The name sounded so odd on Dark’s tongue, as if the very word was unfamiliar to Dark and Anti really didn’t like the way it made his guts twist. “My name is Dark.”

Anti frowned but decided to ignore the fact that Dark seemed to have forgotten that he had already addressed him by his name. “I know. Darkiplier, to be exact.”

There was no reaction to the full name, not that Anti had been expecting one. It was funny how quickly he was adapting to this strange situation, even if every fibre of his being yelled at him that this was so wrong.

It did raise another question though. Did Dark know who he was? Or what he was?

“Do you remember Markiplier?” Anti asked, folding his arms to hide the shake of his hands from Dark’s view. “Mark Fischbach?”

“Markiplier. Yes, he created me.” Dark was speaking rather monotonously and it was grating on Anti’s already frayed nerves. He wanted to hear the suave, charming tone he had grown used to.

Forcing the desire down, Anti nodded slowly. That was something at least. If Dark hadn’t known who Mark was, he would have been really concerned. Not that the news really did anything to allay the panic he was already feeling. It was a starting point to build on what else Dark remembered, and Anti was willing to try some more.

He wouldn’t break, not yet.

Dark seemed to be interested in asking questions to, as he spoke before Anti could.

“Did Mark make you too?”

Anti blinked in surprise. “No. Seán made me. You might know him as Jacksepticeye? Or just Jack?”

The dull stare told Anti that Dark had no idea who he was talking about. It hit him harder than anything else in the past five minutes had, and Anti very nearly choked on his next breath. Dark didn’t know Seán, despite existing when he had become friends with Mark. Anti was sure he had known the two of them for longer than he himself had, but there was nothing about Seán in Dark’s head at all?

Which definitely meant there was nothing about Anti.

What the fuck was happening?

He had to turn away, had to hide himself from Dark’s gaze. It was too painful, and his emotions were overwhelming him. Something needed to break, or he needed to break, Anti wasn’t sure which, but since Dark was the closest thing to him and Anti really didn’t know what would happen if he lashed out, he needed to get a grip. His eyes were bleeding black and his body was glitching wildly in response to his tumultuous feelings.

Before he lost himself completely, he felt a gentle touch on his arm. Glancing down, Anti found Dark holding his arm.

“Your eyes are black.” He stated.

Laughter bubbled up in Anti’s chest at the words without warning, the combination of all the feelings he had for the past two weeks while cooped up alone waiting for Dark to appear. He couldn’t stop it erupting out, his body spasming wildly as he struggled to breath and laugh at the same time. Dark didn’t react, keeping his hold on Anti’s arm and watching him, head slightly tilted to the side.

Anti continued to laugh until he couldn’t draw any breaths and he was left red faced and wheezing. His neck ached from the strain. Why couldn’t life ever be simple? Had he really been hoping for it to be simple? For Dark to just reappear and everything would go back to how it had been before? No…no nothing ever went like that for them.

Nothing was ever good for them.

“Are you okay?”

The question was too flat to really be meant as anything other than a base reaction to seeing something go from manic laughing to crying in such a short space of time, but it brought Anti back to reality. His chest was heaving with the effort of supressing his sobs, his shoulders shaking as his body slowly stopped glitching so wildly. Dark had managed to keep his grip throughout it all, and Anti used it as an anchor point, focusing on the warmth of Dark’s hand on his arm and ignored the question.

He had to clench his teeth with the effort it took for him to calm down enough to look into Dark’s gaze. Whether Dark returned to his normal self or not depended entirely on Anti now since Dark didn’t even seem to know what his normal self was. To him, this existence was completely normal and all he had ever known and Anti had to keep his head. The reality that Dark’s entire future rested in the palm of his hands was almost enough to send him back over the edge, but Anti found the strength to pull himself back together. Pulling his hand out of Dark’s grip, Anti smoothed down the front of his shirt for something to do with his hands. His body felt heavy and his heart was pounding heavily against his ribs, but he felt a little calmer than before.

Dark was happy to sit and wait for Anti. That was good, it gave him some time to collect his thoughts and truly think about what he was going to do.

There was a reason why Dark had come back this way, and Anti knew it had something to do with Mark. As such a popular ego, had the decision to regenerate him been left to the fans, he would have come back exactly the same as he died, only Mark would have been able to disrupt that process. So, first things first, Anti had to figure out exactly what Mark had said or done that had prompted Dark’s return with no personality or aura. Secondly, he needed to find out when Seán’s family were coming back so he could get Dark out of there before they did. Finding out about Seán’s family would be relatively easy, Anti would be able to use his connection to Seán’s phone, and then the subsequent connection to his family’s phones to find out. Investigating Mark might prove more of a challenge, and Anti didn’t want to do either thing with Dark sitting on the bed.

He needed to distract Dark.

“How are you?” He asked, drawing the ego’s attention.

“I’m fine.” Dark replied calmly. “Do you know Mark?”

For someone without any curiosity, Dark was happy enough to ask questions. Anti could feel the beginnings of a headache coming, as he tried to wrap his head around exactly what Dark was right now.

“I know him.” He sighed, “Tell me, do you remember anything other than Mark?”

Dark chewed his lip, thinking before he spoke. “Pain. And then warmth. And then nothing before here.

Pain. That was the bullet wound, Anti was sure of it.

Warmth…that could have been Anti’s body pressed against him as he died, or the blood that had dyed his clothed and hands.

It was something, and all that Anti needed to truly confirm this was the same Dark that Mark had killed.

With nothing else to say, silence fell again and Anti bit his tongue to stop himself from cursing. He wanted Dark to speak, to be himself but it was looking less and less likely. Once he knew what Mark had done, getting back to him would be top priority so that Dark could be fixed. There was also the problem of whether or not to tell Dark what had happened. Without his memories, Anti wasn’t sure if Dark would believe that Mark would shoot him, and how he would react to the news.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out either.

Dark yawned, breaking Anti from his thoughts.

“Are you tired?”

“I don’t know.” Dark admitted.

“Lie down.” Anti ordered. It was a whim, but if he could get Dark to sleep then he’d be able to investigate the two things he needed to without worrying. His stomach twisted when Dark followed his order, lying down and pulling the blanket over his still naked form. Anti watched him, and eventually his red eyes fluttered closed and his breathing evened out as his body fell asleep.

He looked so normal like that and Anti ached for him.

Shaking his head, he focused on what he had to do. Coming back to life was stressful and the body, so Dark being tired was normal and gave Anti a small window to do his thing.

Leaving the bedroom, Anti pulled out his phone and tossed it onto the couch. Concentrating and clearing his thoughts, he glitched through his device and into Seán’s. He needed to be quick, since his presence would cause the device to glitch and mess up and if Seán was using it he’d automatically know Anti was there. A quick look around the phone told Anti that Seán and Signe had returned to Brighton but Seán was in constant contact with Mark and had been since the shooting. He was concerned about Anti’s disappearance and the fact he hadn’t been able to get in touch with him and Mark was worried as well. Anti skipped through those messages, not caring how Mark was constantly on edge, and he didn’t stop until he saw Dark’s name mentioned in a slew of texts.

_Mark: He was all fun and games while just a character, but when he got a fully physical body I realised my mistake._

_Seán: Mistake?_

_Mark: I revamped him, gave him a more cruel, manipulative and charming character but I didn’t round him out well enough, so the more violent side took precedent over everything else. In physical form, I had to be constantly watching my back, constantly looking over my shoulder, it was exhausting and stressful._

_Seán: So, if you were to do it again, what would you do? I mean, I can’t imagine he’s going to stay away?_

_Mark: Doubt it. It’s a shame because I’d get rid of him if I could. I had to physically shoot him, I can’t even sleep right now thinking about it. I’d probably have him as a blank slate, someone who I could develop in a more rounded way to make sure I wasn’t dealing with someone who just wanted to murder me all the time._

_Seán: Well, he is your creation. If he comes back, bring him back as a blank slate and then develop his character slowly? Can’t see it being much of a problem._

_Mark: It isn’t a problem. I’ve done it before I mean, he sort of faded a little bit before A Date with Markiplier. Like, the fans were talking about him, but I didn’t give him much thought, and then I revamped him. He was completely different, so I know I can do it. When I called him back for the skit, when we touched, he regained everything that made him who he was, plus everything else I wanted._

_Seán: So, when he comes back you just need to avoid coming into physical contact with him until you’ve built him how you want him to be?_

_Mark: Sounds about right._

Anti almost lost his grip on Seán’s phone from his anger at the messages, and the device glitched dangerously around him, nearly deleting the entire message history. As Anti had guessed, Mark was behind everything. He had wanted Dark to come back as a blank slate so he could rebuild his character and make him easier to deal with, and he had been semi-aware of what sort of state Dark would have been in during this transition. There was no promise that Mark would recreate Dark with the things that characteristically made him the Dark that Anti loved, and since Mark was his creator, he had a lot more freedom of movement to do what he pleased. Anti had a limited time to fix Dark before Mark made him something else.

Since Mark had admitted he had done this before, Anti had his answers. He had restored Dark with a physical touch, whilst also recreating him, so if Anti could get Dark back to Mark and force him to restore him then Mark’s plan would fail and Anti would have his Dark back.

Seán’s data glitched violently around Anti again as he tried to get a good grip on his anger. Mark had no idea what he was messing with, he just saw Dark as a doll, something he could move around and mess about with at his leisure. Despite getting his base character from Mark, Dark was his own person and developed on his own, and with one shot Mark had deleted it all and wanted to replace him with something a little easier to deal with.

When Anti got his hands on the man, he was going to rue the day that idea had ever come to him.

With one answer down, Anti concentrated again and used Seán’s phone to glitch through to his parents instead. Wherever they were it was loud and they were talking fast to each other, mostly nonsense that Anti didn’t need to know about. He needed answers and he needed them quickly before his emotions overwhelmed him again and caused him to slip out of the phone wherever Seán’s parents were.

That would have been hard to explain.

Just as Anti felt his body glitching too violently for the device holding him, he heard Seán’s mum say something about being happy to get back to her own bed soon. His father confirmed, stating that they only had three days to wait, and one of those would just be travelling.

With the information secured, Anti threw himself back through the connection of phones and out onto the floor of the cabin, taking shaky breaths and allowing his body to go limp from the effort.

Three days.

In three days Seán’s parents would be home. It wasn’t a lot of time for him to plan his next move, but Anti was sure he could do it. Really, he had no choice. He needed to move as quickly as he could to beat Mark at his own game. Convincing Dark to go with him wouldn’t be hard since he seemed extremely pliable and Anti knew he was just a blank canvas for Mark to fuck with.

Three days meant Anti had enough time to get the cabin and main house back to a similar state to how they had been before he had arrived. It gave him enough time to find and book them a hotel somewhere so they had a base camp while he attempted to get them to LA. The only problem was the similarities of both him and Dark to Mark and Jack. They were famous Youtubers and had fans everywhere, and while Anti was positive he could pull of Jack easily, Dark was a different story. He had no emotions, no personality, nothing at all to help him pretend to be Mark…so that was going to be an issue, but Anti would cross that bridge when he got there. Worrying wasn’t going to get him anywhere, he had to focus on the here and now.

It was funny, Anti thought, how logical he was being now despite the inner turmoil still running through him. He was swinging through moods quickly, and it only took one small thing to throw him over the edge, but there was a part of him determined to do this, to get his Dark back. It was sickening really. But, here he was.

The sheet across the bedroom drew back and Dark walked out. He was shaky in his movements and wrapped in the blanket as he approached Anti on the floor.

“What are you doing?” He asked, tilting his head to look at Anti properly.

“Thinking.” Anti mumbled. His headache was getting worse.

To his surprise – although Anti wasn’t sure how anything this Dark did was a surprise to him know he knew what had happened – Dark settled on the floor next to him, crossing his legs. Anti searched his gaze but found nothing to suggest the old Dark had suddenly returned while he had been done, so he averted his gaze to the ceiling of the cabin. Why did he have to be so weak, so in love? This would be easier if he didn’t care. He could have taken Dark back to Mark and let him do whatever he wanted with his creation.

But he did care. And he was going to fight Mark every step of the way. He wanted his Dark back, and he wanted him now.

He needed a more concrete plan. Getting them out was a top priority, and Anti was glad he hadn’t thrown his phone out of the window after all because it meant he’d be able to book a hotel room for them, and a vehicle to get them there. Thinking with Dark in the room was difficult though, because Anti’s brain kept doing somersaults between logical and emotional, and his body ached for the familiarity of his smile and touch.

“I’m going to go and get you some clothes.” He said after a moment, rolling over and pushing himself off the floor. Dark made to follow, but Anti pushed him back down. “Stay here, you’re naked.”

Dark didn’t seem entirely fussed about his state of dress, but he also didn’t argue and settled back down on the floor again. Anti stalked from the wooden cabin over to the main house. He had broken into it a while ago in search of clothes while he was staying there, so his body led him through the house on autopilot as a plan began to form in his mind. The next time Dark slept he would come over and begin clearing and cleaning the house and the cabin of their presence as best he could. He would book a hotel as close to the airport as he could, and then he would attempt to glitch out the records to get them booked onto a plane to LA. In LA, he would take Dark to Mark and get him to fix him. That was the basic plan, and Anti knew there would probably be other factors he would have to take account of but for now, that would do.

Simple and effective.

And almost guaranteed to go wrong, but Anti was going to be prepared for that. He had to be.

Finding clothes that would hopefully fit Dark in the master bedroom, Anti wandered down into the living room to assess how big a job he was looking at to return the house to its semi-normal state. There were only a few instances where it was obvious he had been there, but apart from the missing clothes there was no reason he wouldn’t be able to set the house back in order again.

Leaving the house with the clothes clutched to his chest, Anti found Dark sitting in the exact same spot on the floor, eyes fixed on the door, waiting for him to appear. Anti tossed the clothes at Dark, who caught them and stood, letting the blanket fall so he could get dressed.

“We’re leaving.” Anti said as Dark moved. “So get as much rest in now as you can. You’re still tired.”

“Why are we leaving?” Dark asked, slipping into the clothes easily enough, although the shirt only just fit him and accentuated his muscles in a way that really didn’t help Anti.

“This isn’t our house.” He explained patiently, looking anywhere but at the grey-skinned ego. “So we have to leave now you’re here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Back to Mark.” Anti muttered. He was getting tired of questions. “And you’re going to do as I say, okay?”

Dark nodded, seeing no reason to argue against him and fell silent. Anti took a deep breath and hoped Dark would go to sleep again soon. He needed to lie down and just absorb everything. It didn’t help that his panic still hadn’t subsided, it was just being kept down by his constantly logical thoughts planning their next moves. After a few minutes of watching Dark stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, Anti ordered him back to bed and the ego went without question.

Anti collapsed onto the couch and threw an arm over his face.

Mark was going to pay for this, he’d make sure of it.


	3. Reformed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anti is a man with a plan. Not a very well-formed plan, but a plan nonetheless. 
> 
> But when does anything ever go according to said plans?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy this has been hard to write orz  
> writer's block and other things getting in the way...sorry I left you guys in the lurch for so long!
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, sorry if it feels a little disjointed.

 

Three days ended up being barely enough time to get them both ready to leave, but Anti somehow managed to go it, by the skin of his teeth. Dark’s state meant that after only a few hours of being active and following Anti’s orders, he was tired and needed to rest. Anti had to plan very carefully around this issue, and although the periods became longer where Dark was awake, he wouldn’t be at full capacity by the time they had to leave. Tidying the house and the cabin while Dark was asleep was easy at least. And yet, Anti had kept putting back the departure time for fear he hadn’t planned well enough to get Dark out of there, and because of this they were both nearly caught by Seán’s parents. It convinced Anti to not allow Dark’s tiredness to slow any of his plans down again, the ego was just going to have to suck it up and deal with his tiredness as they moved.

One positive came out of the three-day slog to get out of the cabin in time and in one piece: Dark didn’t change personality wise once, meaning whatever Mark had planned for him hadn’t been put into effect yet. Luck seemed to be marginally on their side, and when the hotel Anti had chosen out of a random guess accommodated them without any issues, he finally allowed himself to breath. This may not be as complicated as he thought. Dark went straight to sleep as soon as they checked into the room, and Anti forced himself to plan how he was going to get them to LA.

His good mood faded immediately.

Upon googling the journey, he was advised to go to Dublin airport – which was a difficult trip on its own – and then get a flight to LA. None of the flights were direct, everything cost a lot of money and to fly to LA, they would need some sort of paperwork. Sitting at the table with his head in his hands, Anti had to resist the double urge to slam his head into the desk and throw his phone out of the window. He was tired but he couldn’t sleep, too worried to let Dark out of his sight. He was hungry but he couldn’t keep anything down. He was being worn down to the bone and getting Dark safely to LA just for Mark to reverse everything he had done was going to be a chore.

Anti’s phone suddenly began ringing, loud in the silence of the room, and it made him jump. Looking over to where Dark was still sleeping, Anti grabbed the phone and saw that it was Seán once again trying to get in touch with him. His finger hovered over the ignore button, but something gave him pause. Would it be so bad to speak to him? If he was honest, Anti wasn’t so sure anymore, and there was a definite burning in his chest to speak to someone who wasn’t completely fucked in the head.

Laying his head on the table, Anti answered the call and balanced the phone on his ear, letting Seán speak first.

“ _Anti! Oh god ya finally answered! Where are ya?”_

Wincing, Anti moved the phone away from his ear. Seán was talking loudly and quickly, caught between panic that Anti was gone and relief that he had finally answered the phone.

He wanted to hang up, but he forced himself to speak instead, sullen tone betraying his tiredness. “You don’t need to know.”

“ _I know that ya in Ireland.”_ Seán stated and Anti frowned. How could he possibly have figured that out?  
“ _My parents just called to say they were back from holiday and me ma mentioned that it looked like someone had been in the house but they can’t find anything missing except for some clothes.”_ Seán continued. He was so incredibly sure it had been Anti in the house that the Glitch grimaced. Was it really so obvious? If Seán could jump to that conclusion so quickly, it would only take a little bit of thought for him to guess the next part of Anti’s plan.

“Clever.” He grunted.

“ _Why are ya in Ireland, Anti?”_ Seán asked, “ _Please tell me.”_

“Wouldn’t you want to be alone if you just watched the person you love murdered?” Anti spat harshly. He didn’t want to be part of this conversation anymore. He just wanted this all to be over.  
“What do you want?”

Seán was silent, stumped by Anti’s harsh words, and the itching to throw the phone was only getting worse as the silence stretched. There was a rustle of fabric and Anti swirled around to find Dark sitting up in bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes and watching Anti with that horrid, blank expression.

Finally, Seán spoke. “ _I want ya to come back Anti. I know you’re sad about Dark, but hiding out isn’t going to help at all. Signe and I can help ya, if ya’d come home.”_

Anti couldn’t stop himself from laughing. It bubbled up from deep inside him, born from the feeling of how good it really did feel to speak to someone who was their normal self. Seán had no idea what was happening right now, what Mark had done, and he was sure that if Anti came back to Brighton, he and Signe could help Anti grieve.

How little Anti really needed his help.

“Only one person in this entire world can help me.” Anti managed to choke out through the giggles and glitches, body out of control from the overwhelming burst of emotions and energy. Oh Seán’s face would be a pretty picture as he tried to guess who Anti meant, and even better when the penny dropped and he realised Anti meant Mark.

“ _Please don’t hurt Mark! He’s sorry for what he did, Anti!”_

“He doesn’t get to be sorry!” Anti shouted, the joyous feeling inside him exploding in an instant. “Don’t tell me he’s sorry when he never wanted Dark to be tangible in the first place.”

Before Seán could reply, Anti ended the call and threw the phone down onto the table. He didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to hear how Seán apologised for Mark and begged Anti to forgive him. It was all a stupid mistake, he’d say, and Mark was disturbed from having to kill someone and he wanted to apologise. No. Anti knew exactly how Mark felt about what had happened and Seán was foolish for thinking he didn’t.

Dark shifted to stand from the bed, prompting Anti to turn his attention to him and approach him, slowly. There was no curiosity in his eyes about who Anti had been speaking to, or why he himself had been mentioned, and Anti hated him so much in that moment. His Dark would have been smirking and teasing him for being so hung up over it, when they were clearly going to get revenge. And Anti wanted that.

“We’ve got a long trip.” He said instead, “So get as much rest as you can because we’re moving across country.”

“To get to Mark.” Dark stated, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah.” Anti sighed.

There was no argument from the grey ego as he lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, and Anti’s brain was already in overdrive planning their next move. Seán would inevitably tell Mark that he had spoken to Anti and that the Glitch was coming for him. That could go one of two ways, and Anti wasn’t sure which one he wanted. Either Mark would be prompted to start redesigning Dark because Seán had mentioned Anti, or Mark might guess what Anti was coming for and steel himself against giving in. Anti needed to know what decision was going to be made, and he needed an easier way of doing it without going inside Seán’s phone all the time. He had an idea, but formulating a clear plan was difficult and Anti’s brain refused to cooperate until he got some sleep, no matter how difficult it was.

Dark was already asleep again, breathing lightly and Anti knew he would simply have to trust that the other ego wouldn’t disappear if he woke up and Anti himself was sleeping. The door was locked and Dark had nowhere to go and no desire to really leave, and Anti really needed sleep. Since the room had twin bed, Anti crawled into the free bed and collapsed against the pillows, asleep within seconds.

-

Plagued with nightmares, Anti woke after only a handful of hours, screaming Dark’s name and with someone’s hands on him. Launching himself forward from the bed, body going into attack mode, Anti knocked the person touching him to the floor, hands grasping for a knife. His vision cleared quickly and he found himself straddling Dark, a knife biting into his throat and those red, emotionless eyes watching him.

“You were screaming.” Dark said simply, nonplussed by the violence Anti had shown.

Every fibre of Anti’s sleep deprived body was yelling at that Dark was concerned for him, and that the way Dark’s body felt beneath him was warm and familiar and real. Running a hand through his hair, Anti forced those feelings down and climbed off the other ego, holding out a hand to pull Dark up as well.

“It’s called a nightmare.” He explained wearily. Through the window of the hotel room he could see the moon just visible behind the clouds, and the room was dark. Anti knew that was all the sleep he was getting, and Dark seemed a lot more alert than before, so now was as good a time to make a move as any. But first, he needed to check whether Seán and Mark had been in touch.

As Anti went for his phone, abandoned on the table, a thought hit him and he stopped suddenly and Dark collided with his back.

“Anti?”

“It’s nothing.” Anti whispered.

No.

That was a lie.

It was everything.

He didn’t need to glitch into Seán’s phone to keep an eye on his texts, and Anti kicked himself for not thinking of it before. When Seán had first given him a phone of his own, Anti had glitched out the device to carry two Apple IDs – his own and Seán’s. It was insurance, he had explained to Dark at the time, because if he could access all of Seán’s messages through his Apple ID he could track whether Seán was talking about him or not. That same phone was lying on the table in front of him.

Anti hadn’t accessed Seán’s ID for a long time now, since he could easily just glitch into Seán’s phone and listen to whatever he wanted, but the ID was still there. So, he could watch Seán and Mark’s messages back and forth, and neither of them would know. He needed to check that it still worked, and he couldn’t do that with Dark breathing down his neck, his presence was distracting.

“Dark.” He said, “Go for a shower.”

Dark gave no argument, disappearing into the bathroom without a word. Anti watched him. It was strange he knew so much about everyday life and yet lacked a complete personality. Mark had really messed him up, and Anti had to swallow down a combination of anger and tears. Still, with Dark out of the way he could get to work figuring out if the ID in his phone still worked.

Grabbed the device from the table, Anti scrolled to the settings and glitched just his fingers inside. Before, this had brought up the option to swap ID, and Anti waited with baited breath until the option appeared again, and he selected Seán’s ID instead of his own. The phone shut off, restarting and rebooting with the different ID, and Anti had to wrack his brain for the password he had set for accessing Seán’s ID. Messages and notifications began pouring into the phone, and Anti immediately turned off all notifications except for any of the messaging services. It worked, and when he brought up the conversation Mark and Seán had been having, he saw the last messages sent between them across any service was two days ago. So, Seán hadn’t told Mark yet.

That worked in Anti’s favour.

His mind refreshed from the small sleep and the burst of energy from the idea, Anti turned his thoughts to everything else he had to do. Bus tickets, train tickets, airline tickets…and not to mention how he was going to get him and Dark actually through security at the airport with passports. Focusing on what he could do for now, Anti glitched into his phone and then through the connection to various websites, gathering everything he needed.

By the time Dark was done with the shower and wandered back into the room, there were train, bus and airline tickets waiting in the name of Mark Fischbach and Seán Mcloughlin waiting for them. While he had been working, Anti had concocted a partial plan for getting them on the plane. Glitching systems was a speciality of his, and he didn’t necessarily need to be in the system to do it, although it was easier. If he could buy passport holders, he could make the systems believe well enough that they were the real deal, but the people were a different matter altogether. Without Dark’s manipulation it was going to be difficult but Anti would figure that part out when they got there.

He had to. 

“Are we leaving?” Dark inquired. His hair was dripping into his face as he stood in the middle of the room in nothing but a towel.

Anti swallowed and turned his gaze away. “In the morning.” He muttered, “I want to make sure you’re as awake as possible for this.”

Again, Dark didn’t argue, and he dressed again in the borrowed clothes. Hours passed without either of them speaking, Anti merely planning how to get him and Dark on the plane and trying to find blueprints of Dublin airport and Dark doing nothing. Eventually, the dark haired ego fell asleep, curled up on himself and breathing so lightly Anti had to check whether he had stopped every hour or so.

He didn’t sleep.

Morning finally rolled around, and Anti had a fully-fledged, if tentative plan. His eyes were heavy with sleep, but he went over the details in his head quickly again to make sure it all made sense.

A catastrophic failure of the systems at the airport – including any back up ones – when the gate for their flight was announced would send the entire terminal into pitch black chaos. With that done, Anti would get both himself and Dark through the entire airport, right to the gate, and trick all the systems into believing that they had been checked in and were about to board the plane when the systems failed. Then, without a hitch, the systems would come back online and no one would be any the wiser as to what made them fail. Delays were probably to be expected while they checked if planes could take off with the tower systems failing as well, but soon the plan would be bound for LA. During the stop over, Anti would do the same thing, getting them onto their second plane, and then for a third time in LA. They would have no luggage to wait for, so they could leave the airport entirely then. He would be exhausted, running on little sleep and food and whether he would have the energy to confront Mark after all this was unknown.

It was all going to go according to plan, Anti wouldn’t allow it to go any other way. As he got up to get ready to leave, his phone dinged with an incoming message to Seán, and when he checked it, his blood ran cold.

_Mark: I’ve been thinking about Dark’s character…and I’ve not really had much time to develop him but I think I’ve got something?_

_Seán: Oh?_

_Mark: When I first revamped Dark I wanted him to be the anthesis of myself, and now I know that’s quite lacking in character. So…I’m going to sort of insert a little bit of myself into him as well that I think would work with his character. Dark is definitely scarier if he isn’t the complete anthesis, you know?_

_Seán: I don’t know, you think so?_

_Mark: Yeah. Whenever I play the other egos, they all have this sort of, childish wonder about them on top of whatever it is that makes them ‘them’. I can’t explain it properly, but it’s like, this desire to be playful about whatever it is they’re doing. But Dark, since I recreated him he’s just completely serious…and if he was actually playful and had this sort of childish wonder streak in him, it would add to his character. Like, he wants control, he wants to lure people in and be the monster because he has to be, but there is this sense with him as well that he can be so human, and with humans…or with me…there’s a wonder in new things and awesome things. I don’t know if that even makes sense._

_Seán: I get it I think…like beforehand his shell was literally just a false human appearance whereas now his shell is the positive parts of his personality that lure people in and hides the monster underneath? It’s all Dark, just split?_

_Mark: Yes! Exactly! That’s a good explanation actually. So…he’s always showing true facets of his personality, whether through his shell or through the monster underneath, and that’s what makes him all the more dangerous, because the man that draws you in is truly part of him as well, not just an act. I’m just gonna stick with ‘childish wonder’ for now and then go from there. I haven’t really got much time to think about him right now, so it might be a while before I add anything else._

_Seán: You’re definitely putting a lot of thought into this. Look…Mark I have to tell you something._

_Mark: Yeah?_

_Seán: Anti might be coming for you. I spoke to him and he sort of…implied it._

_Mark: That’s okay. I can deal with Anti. I’m sure. I’ll just explain what I’m doing and how Dark is going to come back._

Anti had to put the phone down before his grip became too tight and he broke something.

No. No, no, no, no, no Mark was not allowed to do this. It was going to be hard enough to get Dark back to LA when he had no personality, if he woke up feeling nothing but childish wonder…Anti may kill him personally before they got there.

Burying his hands into his hair, Anti had to swallow a scream of frustration as his left eye twitched, from annoyance or tiredness he wasn’t sure. Dark was still sleeping, and part of Anti wanted to leave him there…but he needed to bite the metaphorical bullet and see if he had changed too much.

Dark made a noise of annoyance when Anti tried to shake him awake and rolled over. Shoving him, Anti watched him roll again out of the bed onto the floor with a thump that woke him anyway. Anti couldn’t help waiting with baited breath as Dark blinked himself properly awake and sat up, pushing his hair out his face. Those red eyes were no longer void of life, but shining with something that Anti really hadn’t wanted to see – wonder.

He was going to throttle Mark.

“Anti?”

It was the first time Dark had properly asked him a question and hadn’t sounded monotonous doing it since he had come back, but the voice didn’t fit him. It was too intrigued, too confused for Anti’s liking, and he almost wished for the monotone to return.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re leaving.” Anti said shortly, “Let’s go.”

As he walked Dark out of the hotel towards the train station, the ego hit Anti with a barrage of questions. He wanted an answer to what everything was, what the plan was, how Anti intended to get them to LA, why it would take them so long to get there, the questions went on. Anti’s hands were twitching by the time they walked into the station, and he couldn’t face another two hours or so train journey with Dark asking him so many questions.

“How do trains actually work?” Dark asked, staring into the platforms at the waiting locomotives as Anti printed their tickets.

“I don’t know.” Anti repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

Dark frowned, “Shouldn’t you know?”

“I ain’t driving the damn thing so it doesn’t matter.” Anti snapped, “If I buy you a book will you stop asking me questions?”

Nodding, Dark dutifully followed Anti into the closest bookshop in the station and picked out the one he wanted. Anti bought it using Seán’s Apple pay, and then guided Dark towards their platform. As they walked, Dark struck up conversation with an old lady also travelling to Dublin. He offered to carry her bags, and then began asking her questions as well. She didn’t seem to mind and humoured him as Anti walked the length of the train, trying to find the seats he had booked for them. Normally he would have kept Dark on a tight leash, but he was just so tired, letting the lady handle him seemed fine.

Turning when he had located the right carriage, Anti’s heart dropped.

Dark had disappeared, as had the old lady. Running an eye up and down the platform, Anti had to stop himself from using very choice language as he rushed to find the ego. He finally spotted him on a train getting ready for departure, helping the old lady into her seat and still asking her questions. Anti rushed the train, grabbed Dark’s arm and yanked him away. They managed to get off just before the doors shut for good and the train started.

“Don’t fucking do that again!” Anti yelled, his entire body trembling and nearly glitching out of control, which would not have been good to have happen in public.

“Why?” Dark asked.

“Because if you do I will throttle you.” Anti hissed, smacking away the hand Dark offered him as support.

They still had time before their train departed, so Anti quickly ran and bought a cheap, throwaway mobile phone, and handed it to Dark. It had nothing in except a battery, but it meant Anti could glitch into it and find Dark immediately if the ego disappeared again. Dark pocketed the phone and happily took the window seat. Anti curled up in his seat as the train started moving, and despite what had just happened, eventually fell asleep as the train’s motion rocked him.

It was Dark that woke him when the train reached their station. Anti lead them to the new train, and instead of asking questions, Dark spouted facts he had learnt from his book. Somehow, that was easier to deal with, and Anti actually found a few things interesting, although he never said it out loud. They weren’t on the second train for quite as long, so he didn’t sleep this time, and Dark sat quietly reading his book. Anti kept an eye on Seán’s messages, making sure nothing else was going between him and Mark in terms of Dark and his personality. This was already too much to cope with, and Mark had no idea what was coming his way, Anti would make sure of it.

From train to bus, Anti found that Dark having a childlike sense of wonder actually was making things easier. He seemed more human, which meant he no longer attracted attention, and he was friendly with people, which made up for Anti’s sourness. The only problem was he was overly friendly and would often wander off to talk to people. Anti had warned him against doing it after the third time had nearly taken them to the deep south of Ireland on the wrong train, and since then Dark had dutifully followed him, excited to “see planes for the first time”. He had asked Anti how they flew and Anti had made up a bullshit answer to placate him and it had worked, for now.

Dublin Airport was quite big, and Anti didn’t want to have to think about how much energy he was going to have to use getting them to the gate. He would have to wait until the gate was announced, meaning he would have to glitch the check-in system, the security system, and the gate system, as well as cause major blackouts and keep an eye on Dark.

“Do you want to play a game?” Anti asked quietly. After hours of waiting, their plane finally had a gate, and Anti knew he needed to get a move on.

“Yes.” Dark nodded, “What kind of a game? What are-.”

“I’m going to explain.” Anti snapped. “I’m going to turn off all the power to the airport, and then we’re going to have a race. But here’s the catch. You have to hold my hand the entire time for the race okay? We’re going to race to the gate, and whoever crosses it first gets to sit in the window seat, but if you let go of my hand during the race, you lose automatically. Sound fun?”

Dark nodded, standing up and beginning to head towards security. Anti grabbed him.

“Wait for the power to go.” He ordered.

It would have been easier to glitch the systems from the inside, but he couldn’t leave Dark alone. Channeling his power, Anti let it go all at once, glitching the relevant systems to show that Seán Mcloughlin and Mark Fischbach had checked in, gone through security and checked in at the gate before moving on to the main power of the airport. The entire terminal was plunged into darkness, and as the screaming began, Anti grabbed Dark’s hand and they ran.

Everyone was running too, terrified. Anti didn’t care, just focused on pulling Dark in the direction of the gates. All doors were open, metal detectors weren’t working and staff were running around like crazy trying to calm everyone down and find out what had happened. Dark was laughing, running as fast as he could with Anti clinging to his hand, barely keeping himself together as he fought against the emergency override system. The gate was in their grasp when Anti’s hold on the systems failed, and he threw them forward with a final glitch, getting them past the gate and onto the delivery bus before the lights showed them there. He had snagged boarding passes from a couple as they ran past, which would allow them onto the plane, and with the airport power finally coming back online, Anti allowed himself to breath.

“Did I win?” Dark asked, ignoring the stares of the people on the bus who hadn’t seen them before they had appeared on the shuttle.

Anti nodded. “Sure, you can have the window seat.”

Dark grinned and turned to strike up conversation with a middle-aged man sitting behind them. The shuttle slowly began to fill as the systems came back online and the workers received orders to continue as normal to get flights due to leave boarded at least. Crammed into a shuttle with countless people, Anti felt over-crowded and sick, and he really needed to sleep on this plane journey or he wouldn’t be able to do that twice more in America. Dark wouldn’t be able to get past him on the plane without him waking up, which was good, and Anti was struck with an idea as the shuttle bus ferried them along to their plane.

As they climbed the stairs to board the plane, Anti signalled one of the hostesses.

“My friend here, he’s a little…special.” He lied, “Needs a distraction for the long flight or he’s bound to get up and start walking around and asking unnecessary questions. Do you have any kids activities packs I could use?”

“Of course sir.” The hostess replied, “I’ll have it brought to your seats.”

Nodding and offering the best smile he could, Anti pushed Dark towards their seats. They were situated in the middle of the plane over the wings, which Dark thought was cool, and Anti had to resist banging his head against the seat in front of him continuously until he passed out.

They were delayed for an hour because of his stunt, and Anti was a nervous wreck by the end of it. He was itching to see Mark, to destroy him so thoroughly that he wouldn’t even know his name, but not before he had returned Dark to his original state.

“Anti.” Dark murmured as the plane finally began to move towards the runway. “Will you tell me about myself?”

Anti stared at him, the question catching him completely off guard. “What are you talking about?” He asked.

Dark shifted, running a hand through his hair and adjusting himself in an all too familiar way before settling his eyes on Anti’s. “I know I was alive before now. And I know I don’t remember. So…will you tell me about me?”

“Only if you tell me how you know first?” Anti whispered. There was no way Dark could know. He had come back with no memories, and no connection to the outside world except for Anti, and he definitely hadn’t said anything. It was possible that his existence was slightly different to Anti’s as they were egos from two different people, but how could Dark know he had been alive before…it just wasn’t possible.

“I see the way you look at me, and I can sense the way you feel.” Dark began quietly, “Like there’s something missing with me. I only noticed it this morning and I was intrigued, but I couldn’t think of anything. And then…something in me remembered what it means to be an ego. We can exist countless times, always different or always the same. So, you knew me before this happened, and you cared about me. And I can feel something shifting under my skin but I don’t know what. Will you help me?”

“That’s why I’m taking you to Mark.” Anti sighed. “So, he can put you back right.”

“So there is something wrong.”

Dark’s voice wasn’t loud or angry, there was no ringing of his aura or the familiar creak of wood, and his body didn’t even snap out of place as his shell normally did, but Anti sensed the power lurking under his exterior, the heart-wrenching, beautiful and deadly power he loved. The real Dark was still in there, barely supressed by Mark because in truth, that was how Dark was supposed to be. And if Anti told him all, maybe it would chip away at Mark’s hold, and give him more leeway.

With a grim expression on his face, Anti glanced about them to make sure no one else was listening before looking right into Dark’s eyes.

“Have I got a story for you.”

\--

They were lucky in the end that Anti knew where Mark’s house was, as nothing he had told Dark on the first plane journey had jogged any memories. The story had been disjointed as Dark fought against his newly created personality, and when there had been amazing sights of the window, Anti had lost his attention. Still, he agreed that he wanted to go back to how he was before, especially if he regained all of his memories and his purpose. The fact that Mark was using him as a puppet to test how he could change his ego angered him and Anti was glad for that.

He was also tired.

Glitching three airport systems and running through them from check-in to gate was tiring, and Anti had fallen asleep on every plane so far, when he and Dark had finished talking. Even when he woke he didn’t feel rested, plagued with nightmares about Dark’s death, and stressed beyond belief that Mark wouldn’t be able to do anything. His nerves were completely fucked at this point, and Anti didn’t even see the point of hiding it anymore. Mark was going to see his true self, the stressed, angry, heartbroken and incredibly determined glitch bitch that everyone called him, and he wasn’t going to enjoy it.

Even if Seán had warned Mark about Anti’s arrival, the Youtuber hadn’t prepared for it, and opened the door happily when Anti rang the doorbell. The shock on his face at seeing Anti standing there, glitching with his eyes a deadly shade of black, and Dark stood next to him staring in wonder at Mark – he couldn’t help it after all – was priceless. Anti grabbed him by the collar and shoved him inside. Dark followed, closing and locking the door, content to watch Anti do what he wanted to do. Before Mark even had a chance to speak, Anti forced him into Dark’s vicinity and the two touched. Both stiffened as they did, Mark’s eyes wide and Dark’s mouth open and Anti watched carefully. He didn’t know what he needed to do to get Dark back, but this seemed like a good start.

Dark collapsed first, crumpling to a heap on the ground and Mark soon followed. The ego was unconscious, but Mark was not, just heavily dazed and it allowed Anti the time to drag him over to a chair and tie him too it. When Mark finally came back to himself, Anti was standing over him, twirling a knife in his fingers.

“A-Anti.” He gasped out, struggling against his bonds. “What are you doing here? What happened?”

“Shut up!” Anti hissed, striking Mark with the handle of the knife. His head snapped sideways and he spat blood from his mouth and Anti felt a twist of pleasure inside him. When he was done, that wouldn’t be the only place blood was coming from, but he needed to keep Mark sweet for now, to get what he wanted. “I’m here to stop you from changing Dark.”

“What are you talking about?” Mark snapped, teeth bloodstained and lips shiny with the substance. “I’m not doing anything-.”

Anti glowered and brought the knife down, stopping only inches from Mark’s face. The man panicked and tried to jump away but he merely made the chair move.

“Don’t fucking lie.” He growled, “If you fucking like to me one more time I’ll slice off every inch of your skin until you’re blind with pain.”

“But-.” Mark began to protest, but when Anti slid the knife down further, pressing it into his cheek and slowly piercing the skin he thought better of it and snapped his mouth shut.

“Why don’t I refresh your memories?” Anti sneered, pulling out his phone. “ _I’d probably have him as a blank slate, someone who I could develop in a more rounded way to make sure I wasn’t dealing with someone who just wanted to murder me all the time.”_

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a more rounded character!” Mark argued as Anti scrolled through the texts to find the ones about Dark having a childish sense of wonder. The ego twitched on the floor as they spoke. “He was just evil! There was nothing good in him, for anyone!”

“He was good for me!” Anti yelled, glitching so wildly that his voice echoed around the room and Mark’s electronics reacted to him with screeching static which made Mark wince. “He was mine! Dark was mine and you took him from me! And you did it twice! But you won’t keep him away. You’re going to fix him!”

Mark stayed silent, staring at Anti in silent protest. Normally Anti would have been impressed, but he was losing patience rapidly and Mark was getting further onto his bad side. Stalking forward, he tipped the chair over so Mark was on his back, bent in a weird angle with the chair before straddling his chest, the knife going to Mark’s throat and digging into the skin hard enough to break it.

“Fix him.” Anti demanded, voice shaking, “NOW!”

The knife trembled against Mark’s neck as Anti tried to hold on, to keep his cool until Mark would agree. It felt like an age before the dark-haired man sucked in a shaky breath and nodded.

“Fine.” He spat, “Fine! I’ll erase everything and I’ll bring him back as he was before! Now get off me!”

“NO!” Anti rasped, voice nearly gone from shouting through his glitching, “Not until you do it. Right now. Erase the changes and I’ll let you go.”

Mark sucked in another breath as the knife further nicked the skin of his throat painfully. Across the room Dark still lay prone. Whatever had happened when he had come into physical contact with Mark was unclear, but it helped Anti right now because he didn’t have to worry about him getting in the way. Anti had never seen an ego destroyed by their creator before without a physical fight between them, so he was unsure of how Mark was going to get rid of Dark. When the human closed his eyes and concentrated, Dark’s body began to fade and Anti’s heart lurched, but he held himself back from attacking, knowing this was just the start of the process.

When Dark fully disappeared, Anti turned back to Mark.

“Now bring him back!” He ordered, knife so shaky in his hands he was in danger of injuring Mark badly.

“It’s not that simple!” Mark cried, “I didn’t bring him back in the first place, he’ll come back on his own just like that Dark did. And this time I won’t interfere, I’ll let him be the same person!”

Anti wasn’t impressed. He cut the ropes holding Mark down and heaved him to his feet before he could respond, slamming him hard into the nearest wall and pressing the knife to his throat again. Mark coughed and tried to double over in pain, but Anti wouldn’t let him, and he wasn’t stupid enough to try and force it, knowing the knife would slit his throat if he tried.

“That’s not good enough.” Anti whispered harshly, glitching so badly he was barely able to keep hold of Mark.

The human was clever enough not to try to escape.

“I’ve waited l-long enough!” Anti screamed, “Bring him back!”

“I can’t.” Mark replied simply. He seemed to have sensed that the building emotions in Anti were making him more unstable, but due to that he was becoming less focused on threatening Mark. “It doesn’t work that way Anti, I can’t just magic him into existence.”

“Why not!” Anti yelled. He released Mark completely, body nothing but glitches and fuzzy static and words barely recognisable. Mark stayed against the wall, watching him with an expression bordering on sympathy. “Why can you take him away in seconds but not give him back! Why did you fucking meddle?! Why did you shoot him!”

Mark reached up and knocked the knife away from his neck and Anti’s arms fell to his sides. They stood, with Anti only a hairs breadth away from him, eyes downcast, heart hammering in his chest, breathing heavily. The thoughts were slowly coming back, the pervading thoughts that had troubled him while waiting for Dark to return the first time and Anti hated it. To Mark, to anyone else, it would seem like such a short time but to Anti…he was sick to the stomach with it all.

“You’re really luck he needs you to be alive to come back.” Anti eventually snapped, peeling away from Mark to stomp across the room. “Because I’d kill you right now if I could. But don’t worry, I need the promise you’re going to bring him back without a problem to mean something.”

There was a threat behind his words, before Anti disappeared in a shower of glitches and crackles of static, leaving Mark alone, pressed against the wall.


	4. Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter!! Thank you guys so much for your support with this fic I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!

 

Anti returned home, much to Seàn and Signe’s surprise and happiness. He didn’t speak of what had happened with Mark, or with Dark, merely retired to his room and refused to leave. Seàn didn’t try and press him for information and Signe would make extra food for him and leave a portion outside his door. She never saw him eat, but the food was always gone when she went back for the plate. 

In truth, he barely had the energy to do anything. There was nothing worth his time, but waiting was just as bad as anything else. Mark hadn’t told Seàn what had happened either, meaning Anti had no one to rant at or indeed show any emotion to. 

It was destroying him slowly. 

The glitching was worse than it had ever been before, near constant and so tiring and everything electronic in Anti’s room was broken because of it. His phone didn’t work because he had finally given in and thrown it out the window. With no contact with the outside world, Anti was drifting. 

Days turned to a week, one week to two, two weeks to a month and still Dark didn’t return. Anti told himself every day that if there was no sign of him, he was going back to Mark to find out what he had done. And yet, the days passed and Anti didn’t move, too broken to fully care. 

He was alone in the house when the doorbell went and Anti was tempted to ignore it. Instead, he hauled himself up and stumbled to the front door, fully intending to tell the person standing there to fuck off. When Anti opened the door, his heart dropped through his stomach. 

Dark stood there, immaculate in a suit and staring at Anti with those calculating red eyes. Anti forgot how to breath, his entire body frozen as Dark stared at him. 

“Where am I?”

The question hit Anti like a freight train and he nearly collapsed. No. Not this again. He looked so similar, so similar to the real Dark...why had this happened?

Anti didn’t give an answer, he didn’t wait for Dark to speak again or invite the grey ego in. He glitched straight to Mark’s house in LA, throwing himself into all his electronics at once. Mark was recording when his computer began flickering and glitching, when the lights began to fade before the bulbs exploded. Anti moved faster than the Youtuber could see, slamming doors, throwing things, trailing his knife along Mark as he glitched past, leaving little cuts. He laughed and the sound echoed from every speaker in the house. Mark was shouting, but Anti couldn’t hear the words. 

When he had tired himself out, Anti flew out of the computer and slammed Mark into the wall. 

“I told you I wanted him normal.” Anti hissed, eyes black, body glitching violently and the knife in his hands cutting Mark as a result. “You’re going to regret this.”

He didn’t give Mark a chance to speak. Anti needed to get away, back to Brighton, to the solitary confinement of his room where he was safe and could let out his emotions in comfort. When he arrived, panting and glitching in the kitchen, Seàn and Signe startled, having just come in themselves. 

“Where have you been?” Seàn asked, steadying the shopping bags that were teetering on the edge of the counter. 

“Giving a message!” Anti spat, hands trembling. “I’m not here to play.”

“Anti-.”

“SHUT UP!” Anti screamed. “You’re all the same, all as bad as each other! I hate you all!”

Seàn had no words as Anti rushed from the kitchen to his room. Slamming the door shut, he resisted the urge to throw the closest object through the window. 

A low chuckle broke him from his thoughts. 

“I’m sure that put the fear of god in him.” 

Anti turned, barely believing his ears. There was a faint ringing in the room, a lick of something at his cheek that felt so familiar, so cruel and so dark. Before his eyes stood Dark, still suited but with a smirk on his face and recognition in his eyes. He held his arms open, a warm invitation and Anti wasted no time leaping at him. Legs around his waist, Anti wrapped himself completely around Dark, burying his head in his shoulder and trying to resist the sobs threatening to escape him. Dark’s arms closed around him, so warm and alive and familiar and Anti couldn’t stop from bursting. 

The tears came thick and fast, soaking Dark’s suit in a matter of seconds and Anti tried to speak through them but nothing tangible came out. Dark held him, supporting and gentle, rubbing one hand up and down his back in a soothing motion and Anti let his emotions go. Everything that had built up since Dark had been shot, all the anger and heartbreak, stress and confusion, it all came out and Dark let it come. When Anti was finally done, exhausted and shaking, Dark gently shook him loose and put him on the floor, still in his arms. 

“W-what the fuck!” Anti gasped, “A-are you s-seriously here?! You were here before and you a-asked!”

“I have all my memories.” Dark murmured, “And I remember exactly what you went through. I wanted Mark to have scared, to be on edge, so I pretended so you would snap and go after him.”

“Well it worked.” Anti murmured. “He’s definitely afraid.”

Dark smiled and kissed Anti, drawing him in so close and holding him there. Anti curled his hand into Dark’s shirt. When they finally broke apart, Dark smiled and rested his cheek on the top of Anti’s head and smiling. 

“You’re really back.” Anti murmured. “I missed you.”

“I know.” Dark whispered. “I know.”

They didn’t break apart for a good hour or so until the shock meant Anti couldn’t keep his feet. Dark merely picked him up again and carried him to the bed. Anti pulled Dark down with him and slid into his arms, burying into his chest and staying there. 

Seàn and Signe found them like that when they went to to bed a few hours later. Dark and Anti were sleeping, curled around each other, breathing lightly. Mark had texted Seàn and told him he was scared Anti was going to kill him, so Seàn snapped a picture and sent it to him to prove there wasn’t a chance of that happening. 

With that done, Seàn turned the light off, leaving Anti and Dark to sleep and enjoy each other’s company now they were back together. 

Seàn wasn’t stupid enough to think this was over after what Anti had been through, but everything was slowly going back to normal, and that was enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> My [Tumblr](https://egotisticalfloof.tumblr.com/)


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